Bonython Manor near

Cury Cury ( kw, Egloskuri) is a civil parishes in England, civil parish and village in southwest Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately four miles (6 km) south of Helston on The Lizard, The Lizard peninsula. The parish ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, England, in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

is an estate garden on the

Lizard peninsula The Lizard ( kw, An Lysardh) is a peninsula in southern Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The most southerly point of the British mainland is near Lizard Point at SW 701115; Lizard village, also known as The Lizard, is the most southerl ...

. Since 1999, the owners have been Mr. & Mrs. Richard Nathan.

Location

It is located five miles (8 km) south of

Helston Helston ( kw, Hellys) is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the Lizard Peninsula approximately east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map she ...

, on the main A3083 Helston to Lizard Road, turn left at Cury Cross Lanes (Wheel Inn) and the entrance is on the right.

Garden

In the 1830s, plantations of

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

and

Monterey pine ''Pinus radiata'' ( syn. ''Pinus insignis''), the Monterey pine, insignis pine or radiata pine, is a species of pine native to the Central Coast of California and Mexico ( Guadalupe Island and Cedros island). It is an evergreen conifer in the f ...

were planted near the house, and paths were surfaced by pebbles from

Loe Bar The Loe ( kw, An Logh), also known as Loe Pool, is the largest natural freshwater lake () in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The earliest recorded appearance of this simple name form was in 1337, when it was called "La Loo", but is mentioned as 'the ...

, near

. Extensive colourful gardens including a sweeping

hydrangea ''Hydrangea'', () commonly named the hortensia, is a genus of over 75 species of flowering plants native to Asia and the Americas. By far the greatest species diversity is in eastern Asia, notably China, Korea, and Japan. Most are shrubs tall, ...

-flanked drive to a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

manor house (not open to the public). There are herbaceous walled gardens and a

potager The traditional kitchen garden, vegetable garden, also known as a potager (from the French ) or in Scotland a kailyaird, is a space separate from the rest of the residential garden – the ornamental plants and lawn areas. It is used for grow ...

with vegetables and picking flowers; three lakes in a valley planted with ornamental grasses, perennials and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n flowers; an exotic mysterious quarry lake; traditional

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

azalea Azaleas are flowering shrubs in the genus ''Rhododendron'', particularly the former sections ''Tsutsusi'' (evergreen) and '' Pentanthera'' (deciduous). Azaleas bloom in the spring (April and May in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, and Octob ...

s and many Spring bulbs. The gardens are promoted by the

Campaign to Protect Rural England CPRE, The Countryside Charity, formerly known by names such as the ''Council for the Preservation of Rural England'' and the ''Council for the Protection of Rural England'', is a charity in England with over 40,000 members and supporters. Forme ...

House

The house was built in the 1780s, being possibly designed by William Wood, a pupil of the Greenwich architect Thomas Edwards. The building is Grade II* listed. It is a substantial late eighteenth century granite house with a basement and two storeys. The facade has five windows on the upper storey and four on the ground floor, with a central door. Eight wide steps ascend to the doorway which has a rusticated surround and a fanlight above. The Venetian window above the door is arched and is flanked by two side windows. The pediment is capped by four stone pillars each topped by a stone ball. In his ''Buildings of England: Cornwall'', the German/British scholar of the history of architecture,

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

, describes the building as "exceptionally elegant".

History

Sir

John Langdon Bonython Sir John Langdon Bonython (;Charles Earle Funk, ''What's the Name, Please?'' (Funk & Wagnalls, 1936). 15 October 184822 October 1939) was an Australian editor, newspaper proprietor, philanthropist, journalist and politician who served a ...

told ''The

Literary Digest ''The Literary Digest'' was an influential American general interest weekly magazine published by Funk & Wagnalls. Founded by Isaac Kaufmann Funk in 1890, it eventually merged with two similar weekly magazines, ''Public Opinion'' and '' Current ...

'': "Bonython is a Cornish name and the accent is on the second syllable: ''Bon-y'thon'', ''y'' as in ''spy''. The ancient family located at Bonython in the

Lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

district at a very early period. Existing deeds show that Stephen Bonython was in possession of the family lands in 1277." His family had left Bonython Manor in the seventeenth century, having previously lived in the area for over one thousand years. The manor had passed to the St Agnes Donnithorne family before then; some had emigrated to South Australia in the nineteenth century after Nicholas Donnithorne became bankrupt. The family name Bonython had changed phonetically several times over the centuries, and various descendants had spelled it in different ways, including the Donnithorne family of St Agnes which had split off in about 1500.

References

External links

Official website
{{Portal bar, Cornwall, United Kingdom, Architecture, border=no Gardens in Cornwall Manors in Cornwall Country houses in Cornwall Grade II* listed buildings in Cornwall Buildings and structures in Cornwall Grade II* listed houses